Camping season has typically been during the late spring, peaking in summer, and quickly wrapping up in early fall before the temperature plummets. However, the norm seems to be changing.
Every month Kampgrounds of America (KOA) publishes research reports on camping and camping behaviors to determine trends and evaluate the current state of the market. KOA has public campgrounds in all 50 states and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. In total, there are over 520 campsites run by the KOA.
October's KOA report shows that 8.2 million U.S. households are planning winter camping trips. The number is a 19% increase over 2021's numbers. In that year, 6.9 million households participated in winter camping trips. KOA has seen and reported an overall increase in camping since April's annual report.
The monthly research report asked respondents about their plans for the rest of the year and their overall feelings about winter camping. Around 36% of respondents said they plan on taking their usual number of trips, while 24% said they plan to take more camping trips than normal. Only 16% said they are done with camping for the remainder of the year. In contrast, 14% said they have taken all their planned trips and won't be planning any more. Those who didn't know yet hovered around 13%, while 12% said they had fewer planned trips.
Overall, 9.67 million campers are planning trips in October alone. KOA attributes the increase to campers planning trips that may have been postponed due to COVID or skyrocketing gas prices. Snowbirds are also planning their trips ahead of time, though the KOA is projecting that short-term snowbirds may be less than in previous years. But, they are projecting an increase in long-term snowbirds of around 2 million American households. The increase was first noticed by KOA in 2021 and seems to be moving upwards, right on target. Another point of note is that many respondents said they would be open to camping if the weather conditions were acceptable. There are plenty of beautiful days throughout the winter, depending on where you are in the U.S., and with the right cold weather gear, winter camping can be just as enjoyable as camping in the summer.
